Integrated services director (ISD) overall architecture

ABSTRACT

A video enable answering machine having many new features including customized video announcement messages, caller ID based video announcement messages, and time based video announcement messages.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/963,655, filed Sep. 27, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,054,313 which is acontinuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 09/001,417, filed Dec.31, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,646.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to telephone communication systems and,more particularly, to a telephone network interface unit typicallydisposed on the outside of a home or small business.

BACKGROUND

As deregulation of the telephone industry continues and as companiesprepare to enter the local telephone access market, there is a need tooffer new and innovative services that distinguish common carriers fromtheir competitors. This cannot be accomplished without introducing newlocal access network architectures that will be able to support thesenew and innovative services.

Conventionally, customer premises telephone and/or data connectionscontain splitters for separating analog voice calls from other dataservices such as Ethernet transported over digital subscriber line (DSL)modems. Voice band data and voice signals are sent through acommunications switch in a central or local office to an interexchangecarrier or Internet service provider. DSL data is sent through a digitalsubscriber loop asynchronous mode (DSLAM) switch which may include arouter. The DSLAM switch connects many lines and routes the digital datato a telephone company's digital switch.

A major problem with this configuration is that interexchange carriersattempting to penetrate the local telephone company's territory mustlease trunk lines from the local telephone company switch to theinterexchange company's network for digital traffic. Furthermore, theInternet service provider must lease a modem from the local phonecompany in the DSLAM switch and route its data through the local phonecompany's digital switch. Thus, the local phone company leases and/orprovides a significant amount of equipment, driving up the cost of entryfor any other company trying to provide local telephone services andmaking it difficult for the the interexchange companies to differentiatetheir services. Furthermore, since DSL modem technology is notstandardized, in order to ensure compatibility, the type of DSL modemprovided by the local telephone company must also be provided to the enduser in the customer premises equipment (CPE). Additionally, since thenetwork is not completely controlled by the interexchange companies, itis difficult for the interexchange companies to provide data atcommitted delivery rates and/or desired quality levels. Any performanceimprovements implemented by the interexchange companies may not berealized by their customers, because the capabilities of the localtelephone company equipment may or may not meet their performance needs.Thus, it is difficult for the interexchange companies to convincepotential customers to switch to their equipment or to use theirservices. These factors ensure the continued market presence of thelocal telephone company.

As part of this system, there is a need for improved architectures,services and equipment utilized to distinguish the interexchangecompanies' products and services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to provide an improved network, it is desirable for theinterexchange companies to have access to at least one of thetwisted-pair lines or alternate wireless facility connecting each of theindividual users to the local telephone network before the lines arerouted through the conventional local telephone network equipment. It ispreferable to have access to these lines prior to the splitter and modemtechnology offered by the local service providers. By having access tothe twisted-pair wires entering the customer's premises, interexchangecompanies can differentiate their services by providing higherbandwidth, improving the capabilities of the customer premisesequipment, and lowering overall system costs to the customer byproviding competitive service alternatives.

The new architecture may utilize a video phone and/or other devices toprovide new services to an end user, an intelligent services director(ISD) disposed near the customer's premises for multiplexing andcoordinating many digital services onto a single twisted-pair line; afacilities management platform (FMP) disposed in the local telephonenetwork's central office for routing data to an appropriateinterexchange company network; and a network server platform (NSP)coupled to the FMP for providing new and innovative services to thecustomer and for distinguishing services provided by the interexchangecompanies from those services provided by the local telephone network.

As part of this system, one aspect of the invention provides activecomponents located in the network access unit such as a modem,multiplexer, and a controller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary of the invention, as well as the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments, is better understood whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are includedby way of example, and not by way of limitation with regard to theclaimed invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a hybrid fiber twisted pair localloop architecture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an intelligent servicesdirector consistent with the architecture shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an embodiment of a video phone consistentwith the architecture shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an embodiment of a facilities managementplatform consistent with the architecture shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a network serverplatform consistent with the architecture shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the ISD.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are block diagrams of various frame structures which maybe used to communicate between the ISD and the FMP.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are examples of one signaling structure which may beused to initiate a call.

FIG. 8-10 are various embodiments of the ISD.

FIG. 11 is an example of one protocol stack for use with the ISD.

FIG. 12 is a one exemplary embodiment of a form factor for the ISD.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a first exemplary communication networkarchitecture employing a hybrid fiber, twisted-pair (HFTP) local loop 1architecture is shown. An intelligent services director (ISD) 22 may becoupled to a central office 34 via a twisted-pair wire, hybrid fiberinterconnection, wireless and/or other customer connection 30, aconnector block 26, and/or a main distribution frame (MDF) 28. The ISD22 and the central or local office 34 may communicate with each otherusing, for example, framed, time division, frequency-division,synchronous, asynchronous and/or spread spectrum formats, but inexemplary embodiments uses DSL modem technology. The central office 34preferably includes a facilities management platform FMP) 32 forprocessing data exchanged across the customer connection 30. The FMP 32may be configured to separate the plain old telephone service (POTS)from the remainder of the data on the customer connection 30 using, forexample, a tethered virtual radio channel (TVRC) modem (shown in FIG.4A). The remaining data may be output to a high speed backbone network(e.g., a fiber-optic network) such as an asynchronous transfer mode(ATM) switching network. The analog POTS data may be output directly toa public switch telephone network (PSTN) 46, and/or it may be digitized,routed through the high speed backbone network, and then output to thePSTN 46.

The FMP 32 may process data and/or analog/digitized voice betweencustomer premise equipment (CPE) 10 and any number of networks. Forexample, the FMP 32 may be interconnected with a synchronous opticalnetwork (SONET) 42 for interconnection to any number of additionalnetworks such as an InterSpan backbone 48, the PSTN 46, a public switchswitching network (e.g. call setup SS7-type network 44), and/or anetwork server platform (NSP) 36. Alternatively, the FMP 32 may bedirectly connected to any of these networks. One or more FMPs 32 may beconnected directly to the high speed backbone network (e.g., directfiber connection with the SONET network 42) or they may be linked via atrunk line (e.g., trunks 40 or 42) to one or more additional networks.

The NSP 36 may provide a massive cache storage for various informationthat may be provided across the SONET net 42 to the FMP 32 and out tothe ISD 22. The NSP 36 and the FMP 32 may collectively define an accessnetwork server complex 38. The NSP 36 may be interconnected withmultiple FMPs 32. Furthermore, each FMP 32 may interconnect with one ormore ISDs 22. The NSP 36 may be located anywhere but is preferablylocated in a point-of-presence (POP) facility. The NSP 36 may furtheract as a gateway to, for example, any number of additional services.

The ISD 22 may be interconnected to various devices such as a videophone130, other digital phones 18, set-top devices, computers, and/or otherdevices comprising the customer premise equipment 10. The customerpremise equipment may individually or collectively serve as a localnetwork computer at the customer site. Application applets may bedownloaded from the NSP 36 into some or all of the individual deviceswithin the customer premise equipment 10. Where applets are provided bythe NSP 36, the programming of the applets may be updated such that theapplets are continually configured to the latest software version by theinterexchange carrier. In this way, the CPE 10 may be kept up to date bysimply re-loading updated applets. In addition, certain applets may beresident on any of the CPE 10. These resident applets may beperiodically reinitialized by simply sending a request from, forexample, a digital phone 18 and/or a videophone 130 to the FMP 32 andthereafter to the NSP 36 for reinitialization and downloading of newapplets. To ensure widespread availability of the new features madepossible by the present architecture, the customer premise equipment maybe provided to end users either at a subsidized cost or given away forfree, with the cost of the equipment being amortized over the servicessold to the user through the equipment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ISD 22 may connect with a variety of devicesincluding analog and digital voice telephones 15, 18; digitalvideophones 130, devices for monitoring home security, meter readingdevices (not shown), utilities devices/energy management facilities (notshown), facsimile devices 16, personal computers 14, and/or otherdigital or analog devices. Some or all of these devices may be connectedwith the ISD 22 via any suitable mechanism such as a single and/ormultiple twisted-pair wires and/or a wireless connection. For example, anumber of digital devices may be multi-dropped on a single twisted-pairconnection. Similarly, analog phones and other analog devices may bemulti-dropped using conventional techniques.

The ISD 22 may be located within the home/business or mounted exteriorto the home/business. The ISD 22 may operate from electrical powersupplied by the local or central office 34 and/or from the customer'spower supplied by the customer's power company. Where the ISD 22includes a modem, it may be desirable to power the ISD 22 withsupplemental power from the home in order to provide sufficient power toenable the optimal operation of the modem.

As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments the ISD 22 may include acontroller 100 which may have any of a variety of elements such as acentral processing unit 102, a DRAM 103, an SRAM 104, a ROM 105 and/oran internet protocol (IP) bridge router 106 connecting the controller100 to a system bus 111. The system bus 111 may be connected with avariety of network interface devices 110. The network interface devices110 may be variously configured to include an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) interface 113, an Ethernet interface 119 (e.g.,28.8 kbs data, 56 kbs data, ISDN, 10 BaseT, 100 BaseT, etc.) an IEEE1394 “fire wire” interface 112 (e.g., for a digital videodisc device(DVD)), a TVRC modem interface 114 (e.g., for a digital subscriber line(DSL) modem), a residential interface 115, (e.g., standard POTS phonesystems such as a tip ring), a business interface 116 (e.g., a TI lineand/or PABX interface), a radio frequency (RF) audio/video interface 120(e.g., a cable television connection), and a cordless phone interface123 (e.g., a 900 MHZ transceiver). Connected to one of the networkinterfaces and/or the system bus 111 may be any number of devices suchas an audio interface 122 (e.g., for digital audio, digital telephones,digital audio tape (DAT) recorders/players, music for restaurants, MIDIinterface, DVD, etc.), a digital phone 121, a videophone/user interface130, a television set-top device 131 and/or other devices. Where thenetwork interface is utilized, it may be desirable to use, for example,the IEEE 1394 interface 112 and/or the Ethernet interface 119.

A lifeline 126 may be provided for continuous telephone service in theevent of a power failure at the CPE 10. The lifeline 126 may be utilizedto connect the ISD 22 to the local telecommunications company's centraloffice 34 and, in particular, to the FMP 32 located in the centraloffice 34.

The ISD may be variously configured to provide any number of suitableservices. For example, the ISD 22 may offer high fidelity radio channelsby allowing the user to select a particular channel and obtaining adigitized radio channel from a remote location and outputting thedigital audio, for example, on audio interface 122, video phone 130,and/or digital phones 121. A digital telephone may be connected to theaudio interface 122 such that a user may select any one of a number ofdigital audio service channels by simply having the user push a digitalaudio service channel button on the telephone and have the speaker phoneoutput particular channels. The telephone may be preprogramed to providethe digital audio channels at a particular time, such as a wake up callfor bedroom mounted telephone, or elsewhere in the house. The user mayselect any number of services on the video phone and/or other userinterface such as a cable set-top device. These services may include anynumber of suitable services such as weather, headlines in the news,stock quotes, neighborhood community services information, ticketinformation, restaurant information, service directories (e.g., yellowpages), call conferencing, billing systems, mailing systems, coupons,advertisements, maps, classes, Internet, pay-per-view (PPV), and/orother services using any suitable user interface such as the audiointerface 122, the video phone/user interface 130, digital phones, 121and/or another suitable device such as a settop device 131.

In further embodiments, the ISD 22 may be configured as an IP proxyserver such that each of the devices connected to the server utilizestransmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) protocol. Thisconfiguration allows any device associated with the ISD to access theInternet via an IP connection through the FMP 32. Where the ISD 22 isconfigured as an IP proxy server, it may accommodate additional devicesthat do not support the TCP/IP protocol. In this embodiment, the ISD 22may have a proprietary or conventional interface connecting the ISD 22to any associated device such as to the set top box 131, the personalcomputer 14, the video telephone 130, the digital telephone 18, and/orsome other end user device.

In still further embodiments, the ISD 22 may be compatible withmulticast broadcast services where multicast information is broadcast bya central location and/or other server on one of the networks connectedto the FMP 32, e.g., an ATM-switched network. The ISD 22 may downloadthe multicast information via the FMP 32 to any of the devices connectedto the ISD 22. The ISD 22 and/or CPE 10 devices may selectively filterthe information in accordance with a specific customer user'spreferences. For example, one user may select all country musicbroadcasts on a particular day while another user may select financialinformation. The ISD 22 and/or any of the CPE 10 devices may also beprogrammed to store information representing users' preferences and/orthe received uni-cast or multicast information in memory or otherstorage media for later replay. Thus, for example, video clips or moviesmay be multicast to all customers in the community with certain usersbeing preconfigured to select the desired video clip/movie in real timefor immediate viewing and/or into storage for later viewing.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a videophone 130 may include a touch screendisplay 141 and soft keys 142 around the perimeter of the display 141.The display may be responsive to touch, pressure, and/or light input.Some or all of the soft keys 142 may be programmable and may vary infunction depending upon, for example, the applet being run by thevideophone 130. The function of each soft key may be displayed next tothe key on the display 141. The functions of the soft keys 142 may alsobe manually changed by the user by pressing scroll buttons 143. Thevideophone 140 may also include a handset 144 (which may be connectedvia a cord or wireless connection to the rest of the videophone and/ordirectly to the ISD), a keypad 150, a video camera 145, a credit cardreader 146, a smart card slot 147, a microphone 149, a motion and/orlight detector 148, built-in speaker(s) 155, a printer/scanner/facsimile152, and/or external speakers 154 (e.g., stereo speakers). A keyboard153 and/or a postage scale 151 may also be connected to the videophone130. Any or all of the above-mentioned items may be integrated with thevideophone unit itself or may be physically separate from the videophoneunit. A block diagram of the video phone unit is shown in FIG. 3B.Referring to FIG. 3B, in addition to the items above, the video phone130 may also include a signal processor 171, high speed interfacecircuitry 172, memory 173, power supply 174, all interconnected via acontroller 170.

When the videophone 130 is used as a video telephone, the display 141may include one or more video window(s) 160 for viewing a person to whoma user is speaking and/or showing the picture seen by the person on theother end of the video phone. The display may also include adialed-telephone-number window 161 for displaying the phone numberdialed, a virtual keypad 162, virtual buttons 163 for performing varioustelephone functions, service directory icons 165, a mail icon 164,and/or various other service icons 166 which may be used, for example,for obtaining coupons or connecting with an operator. Any or all ofthese items may be displayed as virtual buttons and/or graphic icons andmay be arranged in any combination. Additionally, any number of otherdisplay features may be shown on the video phone in accordance with oneor more of the applications incorporated by reference below.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the FMP 32 may coordinate the flow of datapackets, separate voice signals from other signals, perform linemonitoring and switching functions, and/or convert between analog anddigital signals. The FMP 32 may process data sent from the CPE 10 to thecentral or local office 34 by separating and reconstructing analog voicesignals, data, and control frames. The FW 32 may process data sent fromthe central or local office 34 to the CPE 10 by separating controlmessages from user information, and configure this information intosegments that for transport across the digital subscriber loop. The FMP32 may also terminate the link layer associated with the digitalsubscriber loop.

In some embodiments, the FMP 32 may include an access module 70 and adigital loop carrier 87. The access module 70 may include a lineprotector 71, a cross-connector 73, a plurality of TVRC modems 80, aplurality of digital filters 82, a controller multiplexer 84, and/or arouter and facilities interface 86. The digital loop carrier 87 mayinclude a plurality of line cards 96, a time domain multiplexing (TDM)multiplexor (MUX) 88, a TDM bus 90, a controller 92, and/or a facilitiesinterface 94.

During normal operations, digital signals on the customer connection 30(e.g., twisted-pair lines) containing both voice and data may bereceived by the TVRC modems 80 via the line protector 71 and thecross-connector 73. Preferably, the line protector 71 includes lightningblocks for grounding power surges due to lightning or other strayvoltage surges. The TVRC modems 80 may send the digital voice and/ordata signals to the controller multiplexor 84 and the digital filters82. The digital filters 82 may separate the voice signals from thedigital data signals, and the controller multiplexor 84 may thenmultiplex the voice signals and/or data signals received from thedigital filters 82. The controller multiplexor 84 may then sendmultiplexed voice signals to the TDM MUX 88 and the data signals to therouter and facilities interface 86 for transmission to one or moreexternal networks. The TDM MUX 88 may multiplex the voice signals fromthe controller multiplexor 84 and/or send the voice signals to the TDMbus 90, which may then send the digital voice signals to the controller92 and then to the facilities interface 94 for transmission to one ormore external networks. Both the router and facilities interface 86 andthe facilities interface 94 may convert between electrical signals andoptical signals when a fiber optic link is utilized.

When there is a failure of the digital data link (e.g., if there is afailure of the TVRC modems 80 at the FMP 32 or the TVRC modem 114 at theISD 22), only analog voice signals might be sent over the subscriberlines 30. In such a case, the analog voice signals may be directlyrouted to the line cards 96, bypassing the TVRC modems 80, the digitalfilters 82, the controller multiplexor 84, and the TDM MUX 88. Thus,voice communication is ensured despite a failure of the digital datalink. The line cards 96 may convert the analog voice signals intodigital format (e.g., TDM format) and send the digitized voice data ontothe TDM bus 90 and eventually through the controller 92 and thefacilities interface 94 for transmission to one or more externalnetworks.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the NSP 36 may be variously configured to provideany number of services provided by a server such as informationservices, Internet services, pay-per-view movie services, data-baseservices, commercial services, and/or other suitable services. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 4B, the NSP 36 includes a router 185 having abackbone 180 (e.g., a fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) backbone)that interconnects a management server 182, an information/databaseserver 183, and/or one or more application server clusters 184. The NSP36 may be connected via the router 185 by a link 181 to one or moreexternal networks, NSPs 36, and/or an FMPs 32. The information/data baseserver 183 may perform storage and/or database functions. Theapplication server cluster 184 may maintain and control the downloadingof applets to the ISD 22. The NSP 36 may also include a voice/callprocessor 186 configured to handle call and data routing functions,set-up functions, distributed operating system functions, voicerecognition functions for spoken commands input from any of the ISDconnected devices as well as other functions.

Again referring to FIG. 2, the ISD will now be explained in more detail.The ISD enables the seamless integration of voice and data across thetelephone network. The ISD utilizes leverages interface and networkinginnovations originally developed to expedite information retrieval viathe World Wide Web. When applied to telecommunications access, theseadvances enable a revolutionary change in service delivery, that makesthe telephone companies network a much more valuable asset than everbefore. Coupled with the introduction of low-cost premises devices(e.g., browser based touch-screen phones), the technology enables anatural and compelling link to a rich new class of service offerings andfeatures such as CD quality voice, far more friendly access to a widerange of telephony services (CLASS, conferencing, messaging, emergencyservices, etc.), new non-traditional services on an AT&T secure intranetsuch as Bill payment, Banking, Electronic shopping, Home-based smartcard ATM transactions, Electronic coupons, Interactiveadvertising/Point-casting, Corporate LAN extensions for Work-at-Home,Interactive multimedia telephony, High-speed access to the Internet evenwithout a PC, restaurant ordering, sports ticket ordering, catalogueordering, mail metering machines, directory services, customer services,rate tables, calling plan options, as well as self provision newservices, get credit for wrong number calls, vastly reducing the numberof service representatives required.

The ISD performs intelligent multiplexing, dynamic bandwidth allocation,and routing of voice and data and may also include advance signalprocessing for enabling voice activated commands. Because AT&T has over90 million customers, it may be possible to give the video phone awayfor free so that all house-holds regardless of income level or desire topurchase a personal computer will have access to the vast informationresources of the Internet, AT&T's networks, and/or third party networksincluding those providing pay per view (PPV) movie content and broadcastnetworks. It is anticipated that the video phone concept together withthe ISD, FMP, and NSP of the present invention will revolutionize thedelivery of telephony services and provide a quantum leap in theparadigm of telecommunications, improving the quality of life of ourcustomers while turning the copper loop into an increasing necessity forall users.

For high end residential consumers who want more convenience andsimplicity in their daily lives and convenient access to moreinformation devices coupled to the ISD provide, for example: easierdelivery of a wider range of telephony services (e.g., customer care,marketing, operator services) with cost savings due to automation; newservice opportunities such as interactive electronic catalog shoppingfrom the home, and advertising; ability to offer ultra fast Internetaccess to every household, penetrating even those without a PC unliketraditional voice/touch tone telephony access; high fidelity voice andmusic; touch screen and/or voice activated customer interface;asymmetric high speed transport of data to the home with the asymmetriccharacter of the link and apportionment of that bandwidth variabledepending on the amount of traffic; new service opportunities such as3rd party bill payment including paper-less bill payment, banking,obtaining smart card cash in an ATM transactions, electronic shoppingfrom the home, electronic coupons, advertising, electronic review andpayment of bills, calling plans, class of services, as well as otherservices and plans; Interactive video teleconferencing; state-of-the-artnetworking for Work-at-Home; private line services; Call Connectionincluding the self scheduling of conference calls without the need foran operator as well as initiation of interactive calls with white boardaugmentation using an appropriate applet downloaded from the NSP; classservices invoked, for example, via icons and prompts in a natural mannerwithout requiring memorization of numerical codes; navigation & accessfor voice, e-mail, and fax messages; obtain operator services without anoperator, credit for wrong number, rate table, etc.; define profile forpointcast service; purchase products advertised on TV via synchronizedordering screen with television or PPV shows; Multimedia Enhanced VoiceCalls, interactive voice & data response applications & info-on-demand;Support for work-at-home via virtual WAN; Screen pops for message/callalerting; graphical call management using touch and/or a mouseinterface, including, for example call setup/bridging capabilities andpoint-and-click/tap-and-drag conferencing graphical use interfaces toinitiate POTS calls, personal registry, mobility manager, callscheduling, call me back standard messages, personal assistant;Universal Multimedia Mailbox including a common interface for fax,voice, text, audio, and/or audio/visual images; 7 kHz high fidelityvoice; asymmetric high speed transport with dynamic bandwidth allocationresidential LAN interface and associated local area network within thehome; interactive video teleconferencing, display of web pages forcustomers placed on-hold, and other applications as discussed herein.

The service in accordance with aspects of the present invention makesthe phone lines a conduit for a wide variety of high revenue serviceofferings, allows the differentiation of local telephone and longdistance telephone services, significantly reduces operation costs,extracts additional performance benefits from the imbedded loop plant,makes maxim use of the existing network infrastructure, and uniquelyleverages new technology. Aspects of the present invention will enable arevolutionary change in service delivery, which can greatly improve thequality of people's lives, and make the telephone network a much morevaluable asset than ever before. When coupled with the introduction oflow-cost premises devices (e.g., touch-screen phones), the technologyenables a natural and compelling interface to rich new classes ofservice offerings for all telephone users regardless of their ability ordesire to afford a personal computer or learn. Thus AT&T can reduce thecost of its own billing while making it easier for the customer to paythe bill. Additionally electronic billing services can be offered toother companies.

The ISD may be physically located on the premises side of the protectorblock. In exemplary embodiments as shown in FIG. 2, the ISD terminatesthe twisted-pair loop facilities leased from the local exchange carrieron the network side and the premise equipment and associated networks onthe premises side. The ISD may operate to aggregate the diverse trafficfrom the customer premise equipment onto a single stream fortransmission over the loop to the Facilities Management Platform (FMP)and to de-multiplex the traffic from the FMP.

A basic Premises Distribution Network (PDN) 500 for one exemplaryembodiment of a typical residential application of the ISD 22 is shownin FIG. 5. The premise distribution network 500 may include one or moreEthernet connections 501 for connecting a plurality of devices such as anumber of personal computers 14A, 14B, a vision phone, and/or otherdevices. Further, the premise distribution network 500 may include anynumber of conventional analog lines 505 (e.g., Tip/Ring (T/R) phonelines), each having one or more associated analog phones (e.g., 15A-15n), and/or associated Pcs with modem and/or phone cards. Further, thepremises distribution network 500 may include any number of ISDN lines506, each having any number of digital appliances such as ISDN compliantdevices and/or video phones 130. The premises distribution network 500may use existing twisted pair telephone line and/or may utlilize aspecial cable to facilitate Ethernet and/or other LAN connections. Wherethe video phone 130 shares the same LAN as a connected PC 14A,prioritization software in the LAN driver gives priority to video and/oraudio transmissions to and from the video phone to reduce latency timeand unpredictable delays. Alternatively, the video phone 130 may becoupled via a dedicated ISDN connection, a dedicated ethernetconnection, and/or another dedicated connection to the ISD 22. The videophone may have an integrated analog phone for lifeline support.Alternatively, one of the analog phones serves the function of providinglifeline support. Where the video phone 130 includes lifeline support,it is preferred to transmit data to the phone in a band above 7 kHzusing ADSL like modem technology.

In exemplary embodiments, the ISD 22 multiplexes traffic from thevarious components of the PDN 500 (e.g., Ethernet, Screen Phone,Tip/Ring, ISDN) either between other devices on the PDN and/or onto DSLmodem 114 for transport over loop twisted pair to the Central Office.The DSL modem may be constructed using any of the techniques describedin the applications incorporated by reference below. Within the scope ofthe current document, the term XDSL will be used to represent any memberof the DSL family. This family comprises, High Speed Digital SubscriberLine (HDSL), Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), SymmetricalDigital Subscriber Line (SDSL) and Very high data rate DigitalSubscriber Line (VDSL). This list is not limited to the membersdescribed herein, since changing technology adds more DSL schemes.

The ISD 22 may execute any number of additional telephony functionsusing known techniques such as Packetization of voice for all telephonecalls, Tip/Ring Borscht functions, default to Central OfficeBattery/Tip/Ring to provide lifeline service during power failure,overvoltage Protection, ringing, supervision, answer and incomingcall/ringing supervision, generation of call progress tones (e.g., dialtone, busy, ringback, invalid number, etc.), various coding such as 7kHz G.722 coding for Electra called parties, 3.3. kHz mu-law coding fornon-ISD enabled parties, transmit messages reporting DTMF, on hook/offhook/flash hook events, support for voice dialing and enablement ofspecial calling features (e.g., through the use of processor 102 whichmay include signal co-processor 102A and/or a high performancecontroller such as the 8960), provision of dial tone with time-out forvoice dialing service, coding/forwarding voice commands (e.g., to avoice processor in the FMP and/or NSP.

The data link protocol of the DSL modem may be variously configured toinclude incorporate Forward Error Correction for traffic unsuited tore-transmission such as voice traffic. Additionally, the data linkprotocol may organize the aggregate data stream created by multiplexingdownstream channels, duplex channels, and maintenance channels togetherinto blocks, attaching an error correction code to each block. Thereceiver then can correct errors that occur during transmission up tothe limits implied by the code and the block length. The data linkprotocol may also provide sufficient interleaving to correct errors dueto impulsive noise but supporting low latency for voice traffic, createsuperblocks by interleaving data within subblocks to allow the receiverto correct any combination of errors within a specific span of bits. Itmay be desirable to tailor the interleaving interval to the latencybudget for voice applications in DSL modems utilized to carry voice asin the present invention.

The packet handling in the present system may be variously configured.For example, in the CPE-Network direction, a the processor 102 may beconfigured to act as a packet handling subsystem to processes framesfrom the FMP and to generate DSL frames going to the FMP. The ISD andthe FMP include DSL modems (e.g., TVRC) modems to terminate the linklayers associated with the DSL segment of the connection. In a similarmanner as the FMP, the processor in the ISD may be configured toreconstruct the IPv6 packets from DSL frames and then separates IPpackets containing voice from those containing data and from thosecontaining signaling. In the ISD, speech packets from the PacketHandling subsystem may be delivered to the residential interface foroutput to one or more analog lines to create virtual phone lines usingthe upper bandwidth of the DSL modem (e.g., 40 kHz to 1 MHz) in asimilar manner as the packet-to-circuit translation subsystem which maybe utilized in the FMP. The processor 102 in the ISD 22 may also beconfigured to generate signaling packets which may be forwarded to theFMP for later utilization in either an in-band or out-of-band routingsubsystem such as a conventional subscriber signaling subsystem (e.g.,TR 303). Similarly, the processor 102 in the ISD 22 may include asubscriber signaling subsystem as part of an external routing subsystem.In this manner, packets received from the FMP in the network-CPEdirection (including voice, data, video, and control packets) may bedemultiplexed, reformatted with an appropriate protocol, and output toan attached peripheral device connected to the premise distributionnetwork 500.

In the network to CPE direction, the processor 102 may be configured tore-construct IPv6 packets from DSL frames, and separating IP packetscontaining voice from those containing data from those containingsignaling. This process may involve, for example, multiplexing (at theIP packet level) voice, data and subscriber signaling packets bound fora single DSL link with IP packets mapped onto DSL frames.

The processor 102 may also include one or more signal processors 102Aand/or voice processor to perform various MPEGII coding/decodingfunctions, codec functions, voice recognition functions, etc. Theprocessor 102 may also be configured to perform various protocolconversion functions such that data having protocols used on a deviceconnected to the premise distribution network may be efficientlytransmitted to and from the FMP using an appropriate transmissionprotocol. Additionally, the processor 102 monitors the devices connectedto the premise distribution network and stores information concerningwhich devices are currently in use. In this manner, where there is anincoming call, the ISD has the intelligence to know which CPE is in useand which CPE is not in use. As a result, if there is an incoming call,the ISD will not send a ringing tone to any CPE that is already in use,but will route the call to another device that is available. Further,where there is a choice of a plurality of phones and/or other devices toroute the call, the ISD may review activity detected on the motionsensors on any attached motion sensing devices such as those which maybe present in a video phone 130 and ring a phone which is mostconvenient to the user. As an alternative, all available phones will berung, with the user given the option to switch between incoming lines.

In an exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, where an incoming callarrives at the ISD 22, the control 510 rings one or all of the attachedphones. Where a user answers a first phone (e.g., 15A), the utilizationof this phone is recorded. Thereafter, the user may continue talking onthis phone and an off-hook status is indicated. Where another call comesin, the user may choose to answer this call via a conventional methodsuch as “call waiting” and/or using multiple lines. Further, theanswering machine (described in an attached application) may beconfigured to indicate that the user is receiving an incoming call atthe moment and provide an on-hold menu as discussed in the applicationsincorporated by reference below. The control 510 may be configured tohave a plurality of calls on-hold and toggle between these calls bydepressing a DTMF key and/or the hang-up actuator. Alternatively, adigital phone and/or video phone 130 may have any number of lines with aname, address, and phone number associated with each of the incomingcallers. Thus, the residential interface module allows multiple virtualanalog phone lines to be multiplexed on a single twisted pair phoneline. Further, one of the phone lines may be provided with life linesupport.

Interconnected to the ISD may be a protector block 26 which is used forimpedance matching. The protector block 26 may also act as a demarcationof the customer premise and the local loop transmission network. Coppertwisted pair may be utilized to connect the protector block and a MainDistribution Frame (MDF) as the main transmission medium in the localloop.

The DSL modems shown as 114 may be implemented using a Tethered VirtualRadio Channel (TVRC) modem as discussed in the applications incorporatedherein by reference. The TVRC (Tethered Virtual Radio Channel) enginemay be implemented using a simultaneous voice-data modem which may be afull-duplex Variable Rate—Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line (VR-ADSL)modem. The modem may transmit and receive the modulated voice+data bitstream via the twisted pair. The modem uses discrete multi-tone (DMT)modulation to achieve at least 1.5 Mbps data rate in both directions.Some of the TVRC engine functions include forward error control (ReedSolomon), channel coding (Turbo or Wei Convolution), TVRC spreading,echo cancellation and analog transmit/receive line interfacing. The TVRCmodem may be implemented using one or more programmable DSPs which maybe utilized to provide the modem transmit FFT and/or receive IFFTengine. However, the embodiments of aspects of the instant invention arenot limited to the use of TVRC modulation technology. However, TVRC maybe desirable as an alternate to interleaving in order to overcomeimpairments such as noise and interference and which results inunacceptable delays.

The processor 102 in the ISD 22 may be configured to discriminatebetween the various forms of traffic and to route this traffic to anappropriate device. Where high priority voice and/or video isdistributed across the interface, the ISD may include one or morepriority queues disposed in the SRAM and/or DRAM 103, 104. There may bedifferent priority queues for each connected device on the premisedistribution network (including any attached device described withregard to FIG. 2 or discussed herein). Additionally, there may bedifferent queues for each device in both the transmit and receivedirection. Further, control and signaling information may be assignedvarious levels of priority. A similar queue structure may also beimplemented in the FMP. In one exemplary embodiment, the queues givepriority to signaling information, and voice information for the variousattached telephones. If a queue is in danger of overflow, flow controlmechanisms may be utilized by the ISD and/or FMP. Voice data is accessedfirst using an appropriate queuing scheme such as priority fair weightedqueuing or another suitable scheme. In addition to queuing, bandwidthmay be varied so that more DSL frames are assigned to voice and/or videothan data. Further, asymmetric DSL protocols may be dynamicallyimplemented such that more bandwidth may be allocated to one directionor the other as necessary. Where one ISD 22 is serving as the node for,for example, a seven way conference call, the outgoing bandwidth for thenode may need to be increased relative to the incoming bandwidth.However, where a PPV movie and/or Internet file is being downloaded, thebandwidth may be reversed such that more bandwidth is available from thenetwork to the CPE equipment. Thus, asymmetric high speed transport ofdata to the home with the asymmetric character of the link andapportionment of that bandwidth variable depending on the amount oftraffic results in a substantially more flexible platform to implementadvanced services to the user. Multiple modem protocols may bedownloaded into the DSL modem dynamically to chose the best protocol fora particular dynamic bandwidth allocation to maximize the amount ofthrough put.

For example, with reference to FIG. 6, information may be multiplexedinto one or more DSL frames in order to dynamically allocate bandwidth.In one exemplary embodiment, where data is being input to one of theconnected data devices (e.g., a PC), and a voice call comes in, adynamic allocation of bandwidth may occur. Assume that 1 Mbps isavailable for information transfer. Prior to the incoming call, all 1Mbps may be completely used for the data transmission. However, as soonas a voice call comes in, since voice has a higher priority than data, a64 Kbps channel is deallocated from data usage and is allocated forvoice. If a second voice call comes in, then another data channel willbe deallocated from data usage and allocated for voice. As a voice callgets terminated, then the allocated voice slots will be reallocated touse by data and/or another voice channel. For example, as shown in FIG.6B, voice call 4 V4 is terminated and the bandwidth is reallocated toD3. Accordingly, as the bandwidth is reallocated, the header may beupdated to reflect the new bandwidth allocation. This allocation mayoccur in both the CPE to network traffic and network to CPE traffic.Additionally, as slots are added to CPE to network traffic, slots may bedeallocated to network to CPE traffic implementing a dynamic asymmetricbandwidth allocation. Hence, the system dynamically allocates bandwidthin real time to maximize information transfer. Where individual packetsare used to transport voice and data between the ISD 22 and the FMP 32,an individual channel doe not need to be allocated. Voice packets aresimply given priority over data packets in the transfer. Therefore,silence periods may be used to the advantage and a higher overallbandwidth occurs. Data is simply stored in the buffer and/or slowed inits transfer using standard flow control where voice has priority. Inaspects of the present invention, bandwidth may be allocated on aper-frame basis. By contrast, conventional systems only allocatedbandwidth at the time a secession is initiated—and once initiation hasbeen completed, bandwidth allocation cannot be changed without tearingdown the call. However, in aspects of the present invention, bursty datamay be accommodated more efficiently since the burst data rate may beaccommodated via dynamic bandwidth allocation.

The DSL modem 114 may be variously configured to supporting transportover 18000 foot loops at following rates exceeding 1 Mbits/second, andmay include adapting duplex and downstream bit-rates to the needs of thecurrent traffic such that more bandwidth is provided to the upstreamand/or downstream and/or between various devices based on an intelligentbandwidth allocation algorithm. The DSL modem may provide a single-toneDMT mode for low power operation during idle periods to avoidre-synchronization at next service request and enable “always on”functionality. The always on and/or virtually always on functionalityallows voice/data calls to be established virtually instantaneouslywithout long delays. The virtually always on functionality allows thechannel bandwidth to adapt to the current needs of the system tominimize power consumption, reduce thermal dissipation, and generateless interference. For example, if no device is currently beingutilized, only a very low bandwidth channel is required. Accordingly, byreducing the bandwidth available across the loop, it is possible toimprove overall performance for other lines.

The present invention discloses a local loop architecture that canovercome many of the Amongst the claimed advantages is the ability tohave multiple appearances of a call on a single twisted pair. Thearchitecture also allows data and voice to be mixed and bandwidth can bedynamically allocated in real time.

To illustrate the interaction between the various components of theinstant invention, a voice dialing scenario will be described. When asubscriber picks up the telephone and if no digits have been dialedafter a specified period of time has elapsed, the ISD may startdigitizing the voice information into 64 Kbps μ-law PCM data The samplesmay be interpreted locally using processor 102 and converted intocommands, and/or stored in a wave file for later transmission. Forexample, where the voice commands are saved, they may be subsequentlytransmitted to the FMP over a signaling channel. On receipt by the FMP,the FMP may either interpret the commands (e.g., using a controller inthe controller and multiplexer 84), and/or forward the information tothe NSP for further processing. In the NSP, the commands may beinterpreted using known voice recognition technology. The NSP mayattempt to authenticate the request by ensuring that the subscriber doesindeed have a subscription to the voice dialing service. The NSP maythen determine the identity of the subscriber by looking at the addressin the IP field of the packet. The NSP can therefore interpret theinformation in the wave files and take the appropriate action.

In one illustrative example, assume that subscriber John wanted to callanother subscriber Paul. The NSP may attempt to determine who is Paul asdefined by John. Once the telephone number for John has been determined,the NSP may inform the FW to set up a call to John's number. In someconfigurations, this my be done by the FMP using the TR303 interface (asshown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B), for example, by sending a signal to a SLCto request the local Serving Office to tell the latter the appropriateports to use for setting up the call. The FMP may also include its ownDTMF and tone generator for signaling. The inclusion of a DTMF tonegenerator in the FMP and/or ISD has significant advantages in that avoice dialing service may be provided by the interexchange companies andthere is no need to pay for the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) forproviding such a service. Similar services, such as speed dialing, thatthe LEC provides can now be made available locally using the ISD and/orFMP.

In the case where there is an incoming call, say from the PSTN, the FMPmay obtain signaling information from the SLC. The information may bedispatched over the signaling channel to the NSP. The NSP may instructthe FMP with information on how the call should be terminated. Onreceiving this message, the FMP may send the appropriate signalingmessage to the ISD. The ISD may be configured to know which phones arein use and which ones are not. As a result, the ISD may apply ringingvoltage to a phone that is not in use and/or take other remedial actionas discussed above, e.g., using a call waiting signal.

The ISD may be configured to facilitate multiple appearances of calls ona single twisted pair to integrate voice and data traffic. The ISD isunlike conventional system that uses bandpass filters or splitter toseparate voice and data. The ISD provides a local smart hub interfacefor all lines in the home as well as providing digital communicationcoordination among different devices in the home. The ISD may beconfigured for various functions including an alarm system, utilitymeter monitoring, standard POTS phone systems such as tip ring, ormultiple tip rings, or multiple tip rings assigned to a single number,and/or multiple tip rings assigned to unique numbers, detectiongeneration and conversion of DTMF tones, ring generation, off hookgeneration, and other call progress indication, and/or a businessinterface such as a T1 line, and/or other analog and/or digital lines.

Of course, other embodiments of the ISD will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8-10, a secondexemplary example of the ISD is shown.

Further, various implementations of the ISD may be utilized in differentimplementations. For example, settop 513 may be coupled to any suitableinterface such as the IEEE 1394, RF audio/video interface 120, ethernetinterface 119, etc. A TV may be coupled to the settop. Additionally, aDAT, DVD and/or other audio device 515 may be coupled to the ISD using asuitable interface.

Referring to FIG. 11, various protocol stacks may be utilized totransmit the voice and data. For example, a voice signaling stack suchas in-band voice over ATM and/or other voice signaling stack may beused. Additionally, a ether net and/or other IP stack may be utilized.

Referring to FIG. 12, the ISD may be included in a network interfaceunit The network interface unit may be variously mounted either insideand/or outside of the house. Where a DSL modem and/or ISD isincorporated in the NIU 600, it may be desirable to mount the unitexternal to the home to allow access for service and to upgrade the ISDwithout entering the user's home. Alternatively, the NIU 600 may beprovided within the home where power is more readily available and wheretemperature is more stable. Auxiliary power may be provided via anoutlet within the house via a direct power link 612 and/or via astep-down transformer 613 connected to the ISD 22 via one or moretwisted pair phone lines from within the house to outside of the houseto the NIU via a spare twisted pair 614. The auxiliary link allows easyretrofit of existing NIUs 600. Phone lines and/or other interface linesmay be provided from the ISD 22 to the house via lines 620 (e.g.,twisted pair cabling). The cordless interface 123 of the ISD 22 mayinclude a antenna 630, e.g., a 900 MHz antenna mounted to the exteriorof the NIU 600. The antenna 630 may be used as a cellular base stationfor other wireless devices associated with other customer premises.Further, a cable 630 may be associated with RF audio/video interface 120in the ISD 22. The cable 630 may be coupled to a set-top and/or a TV514.

The following applications, filed concurrently herewith, are herebyincorporated by reference:

-   1. A Hybrid Fiber Twisted-pair Local Loop Network Service    Architecture (Gerszberg 41-3-13);-   2. Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for use in the Hybrid Fiber    Twisted-pair Local Loop Network Service Architecture (Gerszberg    42-4-14);-   3. The VideoPhone (Gerszberg 43-9-2);-   4. VideoPhone Privacy Activator (Gerszberg 44-10-3);-   5. VideoPhone Form Factor (Gerszberg 45-11-4);-   6. VideoPhone Centrally Controlled User Interface With User    Selectable Options (Gerszberg 46-12-5);-   7. VideoPhone User Interface Having Multiple Menu Hierarchies    (Gerszberg 47-13-6);-   8. VideoPhone Blocker (Gerszberg 79-38-26);-   9. VideoPhone Inter-com For Extension Phones (Gerszberg 48-14-7);-   10. Advertising Screen Saver (53-17);-   11. VideoPhone FlexiView Advertising (Gerszberg 49-15-8);-   12. VideoPhone Multimedia Announcement Answering Machine (Gerszberg    73-32-20);-   13. VideoPhone Multimedia Announcement Message Toolkit (Gerszberg    74-33-21);-   14. VideoPhone Multimedia Video Message Reception (Gerszberg    75-34-22);-   15. VideoPhone Multimedia Interactive Corporate Menu Answering    Machine Announcement (Gerszberg 76-35-23);-   16. VideoPhone Multimedia Interactive On-Hold Information Menus    (Gerszberg 77-36-24);-   17. VideoPhone Advertisement When Calling Video Non-enabled    VideoPhone Users (Gerszberg 78-37-25);-   18. Motion Detection Advertising (Gerszberg 54-18-10);-   19. Interactive Commercials (Gerszberg 55-19);-   20. VideoPhone Electronic Catalogue Service (Gerszberg 50-16-9);-   21. A Facilities Management Platform For Hybrid Fiber Twisted-pair    Local Loop Network, Service Architecture (Barzegar 18-56-17);-   22. Multiple Service Access on Single Twisted-pair (Barzegar    (16-51-15);-   23. Life Line Support for Multiple Service Access on Single    Twisted-pair (Barzegar 17-52-16);-   24. A Network Server Platform (NSP) For a Hybrid Fiber Twisted-pair    (HFTP) Local Loop Network Service Architecture (Gerszberg    57-4-2-24);-   25. A Communication Server Apparatus For Interactive Commercial    Service (Gerszberg 58-20-11);-   26. NSP Multicast, PPV Server (Gerszberg 59-21-12);-   27. NSP Internet, JAVA Server and VideoPhone Application Server    (Gerszberg 60-5-3-22-18);-   28. NSP WAN Interconnectivity Services for Corporate Telecommuters    (Gerszberg 71-9-7-4-21-6);-   29. NSP Telephone Directory White-Yellow Page Services (Gerszberg    61-6-4-23-19);-   30. NSP Integrated Billing System For NSP services and Telephone    services (Gerszberg 62-7-5-24-20);-   31. Network Server Platform/Facility Management Platform Caching    Server (Gerszberg 63-8-6-3-5);-   32. An Integrated Services Director (ISD) For HFTP Local Loop    Network Service Architecture (Gerszberg 72-36-22-12);-   33. ISD and VideoPhone Customer Premise Network (Gerszberg    64-25-34-13-5);-   34. ISD Wireless Network (Gerszberg 65-26-35-14-6);-   35. ISD Controlled Set-Top Box (Gerszberg 66-27-15-7);-   36. Integrated Remote Control and Phone (Gerszberg 67-28-16-8);-   37. Integrated Remote Control and Phone User Interface (Gerszberg    68-29-17-9);-   38. Integrated Remote Control and Phone Form Factor (Gerszberg    69-30-18-10);-   39. VideoPhone Mail Machine (Appl. No. 60/070,104);-   40. Restaurant Ordering Via VideoPhone (Appl. No. 60/070,121);-   41. Ticket Ordering Via VideoPhone (Appl. No. 60/070,103);-   42. Multi-Channel Parallel/Serial Concatenated Convolutional Codes    And Trellis Coded Modulation Encode/Decoder (Gelblum 4-3);-   43. Spread Spectrum Bit Allocation Algorithm (Shively 19-2);-   44. Digital Channelizer With Arbitrary Output Frequency (Helms 5-3);-   45. Method And Apparatus For Allocating Data Via Discrete Multiple    Tones Appl. Ser. No. 08/997,167;-   46. Method And Apparatus For Reducing Near-End Cross Talk In    Discrete Multi-Tone Modulators/Demodulators (filed Dec. 22, 1997,    App. Ser. No. 09/658,570)

The present application is # 32 on the above list.

In addition, the following two patent applications are herebyincorporated by reference:

-   1. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/943,312 filed Oct. 14, 1997    entitled Wideband Communication System for the Home, to Robert R.    Miller, II and Jesse E. Russell, and-   2. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/858,170, filed May 14, 1997,    entitled Wide Band Transmission Through Wire, to Robert R. Miller,    II, Jesse E. Russell and and Richard R. Shively.

While exemplary systems and methods embodying the present invention areshown by way of example, it will be understood, of course, that theinvention is not limited to these embodiments. Modifications may be madeby those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the foregoingteachings. For example, each of the elements of the aforementionedembodiments may be utilized alone or in combination with elements of theother embodiments.

1. A communication device disposed at a telephone customer premises,comprising: a processor; a digital subscriber line modem, connected tosaid processor, and further connected to a telephone network centraloffice by a twisted-pair wire connection; one or more communicationinterfaces, connected to said processor, and further connected to aplurality of pieces of customer premises equipment located at thetelephone customer premises; wherein said processor is configured to:multiplex outgoing digital data from said plurality of pieces ofcustomer premises equipment for transmission on said twisted-pair wireconnection by said digital subscriber line modem in a digital portion ofa frequency spectrum of said digital subscriber line modem; facilitatecommunication from a first one of said plurality of pieces of customerpremises equipment to a second one of said plurality of pieces ofcustomer premises equipment both the first and second pieces located atthe same telephone customer premises; monitor a use status of one ormore of said plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment; andredirect incoming data traffic in accordance with said use status; andan analog telephone connected to said digital subscriber line modem by alifeline connection, whereby analog telephone service may continue to beprovided in the event of a power failure at the telephone customerpremises.
 2. The communications device of claim 1, where said pluralityof pieces of customer premises equipment includes a telephone.
 3. Thecommunications device of claim 2, where said plurality of pieces ofcustomer premises equipment further includes a television set-top box.4. The communications device of claim 2, where said plurality of piecesof customer premises equipment further includes a videophone.
 5. Thecommunications device of claim 2 where said plurality of pieces ofcustomer premises equipment further includes a personal computer.
 6. Thecommunications device of claim 1, further comprising: a radio frequencyinterface, communicatively connected to said processor; and anintegrated digital services network interface, communicatively connectedto said processor.
 7. The communications device of claim 1, furthercomprising a cordless telephone interface, communicatively connected tosaid processor and a cordless telephone.
 8. The communications device ofclaim 1, further comprising: a residential interface located at saidtelephone customer premises and connected to said processor; and aplurality of analog telephones connected to said residential interface,wherein said processor is configured to create a plurality of virtualtelephone lines to allow said plurality of analog telephones tosimultaneously communicate using the twisted-pair telephone connection.9. The communications device of claim 1, further comprising a protectorblock between said digital subscriber line modem and said twisted-pairtelephone connection.
 10. The communications device of claim 1, whereinsaid processor is further configured to dynamically allocate anavailable bandwidth of said digital subscriber line modem according tosaid use status.
 11. The communications device of claim 1, wherein saidone or more communication interfaces includes a fire wire interfacecarrying a plurality of video signals for a plurality of video devices.12. A communications device disposed at a telephone customer premises,comprising: a processor; a digital subscriber line modem, connected tosaid processor, and further connected to a telephone network centraloffice by a twisted-pair wire connection; one or more communicationinterfaces, connected to said processor, and further connected to aplurality of customer premises equipment located at the telephonecustomer premises; a residential interface located at said telephonecustomer premises and connected to said processor; and a plurality ofanalog telephones connected to said residential interface, wherein saidprocessor is configured to create a plurality of virtual telephone linesto allow said plurality of analog telephones to simultaneouslycommunicate using the twisted-pair wire connection, and at least oneanalog telephone connected to said digital subscriber line modem by alifeline connection, whereby analog telephone service may continue to beprovided in the event of a power failure at the telephone customerpremises; and wherein said processor is further configured to: multiplexoutgoing digital data from said plurality of pieces of customer premisesequipment for transmission on said twisted-pair wire connection by saiddigital subscriber line modem in a digital portion of a frequencyspectrum of said digital subscriber line modem; and facilitatecommunication from a first one of said plurality of pieces of customerpremises equipment to a second one of said plurality of pieces ofcustomer premises equipment both the first and second pieces located atthe same telephone customer premises.
 13. The communications device ofclaim 12, where said plurality of customer premises equipment includesan analog telephone.
 14. The communications device of claim 12, wheresaid plurality of customer premises equipment includes a cordlesstelephone.
 15. The communications device of claim 12, where one of saidcommunication interfaces is an Ethernet interface.
 16. Thecommunications device of claim 12, where one of said communicationinterfaces is an ISDN interface.
 17. The communications device of claim12, where said outgoing digital data is in a packetized form having anaddress.
 18. The method of claim 12, where said incoming data is in apacketized form having an address.